Card personalization systems and methods used in producing personalized cards and other personalized identity documents have been employed by institutions that issue such documents. Identity documents which are often personalized by such systems and methods includes plastic and composite cards, such as financial (e.g. credit and debit) cards, drivers' licenses, national identification cards, and other cards and documents which are personalized with information unique to the intended document holder.
For large volume, batch production of cards, institutions often utilize systems that employ multiple processing modules to process multiple cards at the same time and reduce the overall per card processing time. Examples of such systems include the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,902,107, the DataCard MaxSys and 9000 series systems available from DataCard Corporation of Minneapolis, Minn., the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,054, and the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,781 and its progeny.
Common to each of these types of systems is an input with the ability to hold a relatively large number of cards that are to be processed, a plurality of processing modules through which each card is directed to perform a processing operation, and an output that holds the resulting processed cards. Processing operations that are typically performed on the cards include the programming of data onto a magnetic stripe of the card, monochromatic and/or color printing, laser processing, programming an integrated circuit chip in the card, embossing, and applying various topcoat and protective layers. A controller is typically employed to transfer data information and instructions for operating the input, the processing stations, and the output.
In the case of a card, the processing operations are often performed on one or both generally planar side surfaces of the card. The processing operations that are performed include processes such as the application of data and/or graphic images on one or more of the side surfaces, for example using known printing processes. Additional processing operations that are performed also include the application of laminates and coatings to the card side surfaces.
Often times, a card may contain contaminants on one, or both, of its generally planar side surfaces. Examples of contaminants typically found on card surfaces include dust, particles, fibers, and oils. These contaminants can result from a number of causes, for example the card production technique used to produce the card, or improper care and/or storage of card stock. It is known that contaminants on a planar card surface will negatively impact many processing operations that are performed on the card surface, for example monochromatic and multi-color printing processes.
As a result, a card is often cleaned prior to a processing operation in order to remove contaminants. The use of a cleaning mechanism to clean one or more side surfaces of a card is known. Some conventional cleaning mechanisms include a pair of cleaning rollers that have tacky outer surfaces and between which a card is passed to remove contaminants from each side surface of the card. The contaminants are thereafter removed from the cleaning rollers using cleaning tape that is brought into contact with the cleaning rollers to strip or remove the contaminants from the rollers. The cleaning tape is typically provided from a supply roll, and after stripping contaminants from the tacky outer surfaces of the rollers, is wound onto a take-up roll. Examples of known cleaning mechanisms are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,401,111 and 6,902,107.